FGDI Stage 14: Ryder Rides Into Pink Again

The real action was supposed to start today, but for a while it looked like the big names were just going to sit and watch each other. As a breakaway of three soldiered on up the road, the chasers seemed to be playing the waiting game.

When it looked like the break would survive, I was rooting for Jan Barta to take the win, as he'd been working hard all day and looked about ready to fall off his bike in the finale. In the end though Andrey Amodor got the better of him in the sprint, and the Costa Rican has had his fair share of misfortune, as he did nearly get killed by bandits last year. Not to mention he was lucky to make it down the final descent in one piece the way he was riding.

So, former Pink Jersey Ryder Hesjedal is now Pink Jersey Ryder Hesjedal, after the Canadian made the first attack that stuck from the big boys group.

It was also a wet day and those hills were enough to scare off many of the sprinters. So Mark Renshaw, Matt Goss and Juan Jose Haedo all packed it in. Not so Cavapops though, who soldiered on and held onto his red jersey. He could look a little happier.

Onto the mini-league then, and those Männer in Strumpfhosen are back in the lead. Meanwhile roundabout the middle of the table, the Bile Beans are into the top 10, ahead of the Chanbots, and snapping at Craigatron's heels. And down at the bottom of the table Team SGTBA take over as the Lantern Rouge.

More hills tomorrow, but not crazy big. Looks to me like the sort of stage that might suit J-Rod, or even Tom Slagter.